Five Word Reviews

Wild Bill (2011)

Five Word Reviews

Robin Hood (2010)

Why Jon Ronson's Frank Makes Me Feel Like A Bad Person

9th July 2014

As you may have seen from my Five Word Review, last week I saw Frank written by Jon Ronson and directed by Lenny Abrahamson. It was a charming and whimsical tale of an unconventional band and their eccentric frontman, Frank. As with many "voyage and return" story forms, it suffers from what I found to be a disappointing ending.

One of the biggest problem I have with the Voyage and Return, is that is misses one of what I consider to be the most important steps in such a narrative - what Joseph Campbell called "the Master of Two Worlds". Transmuted by his experiences, the hero is now a potent force both in the world from which he originates, and in the new world of his adventure.

The reason I like this step, is that I often find the story world so colourful and exciting that I want the hero to be able to return to it. Symbolically, I expect this refers to the viewer having their mind opened to a world of new possibilities. By leaving it behind in the story, this is symbolic to me of shutting that part of the mind off.

Though a criticism, this is really a compliment as, if I hadn't found the story world so wonderful, its loss would be no loss.

None of this is what I brought you here to talk about, though, and spoilers follow, so if you plan to see Frank, it may be worth saving this until afterwards.

X-Men Days of Future Past (2014)

Five Word Reviews

After Earth (2013)

Rik Mayall, A Glorious B'Stard

15th June 2014

I was saddened in the week to hear of the death of Rik Mayall at the young age of 56.

Rightly famous for his energetic, bizarre and grotesque (in a good way) characters in shows like The Young Ones, Blackadder and Bottom on TV, and characters like Fred in the film Drop Dead Fred, Mayall is a sad loss to the comedy community.

However, it is as a straight actor that I mourn Mayall's passing the most. Having grown up on Bottom, I first saw Mayall play a (comparatively) straight role in Jonathan Creek as Detective Inspector Gideon Pryke (snigger). Though I had previously heard him voice Mr Toad in 1995 animated film of The Wind In The Willows very sympathetically, I found him very compelling when quiet and considered.